Ka`u News Briefs April 18, 2011

Wes Thelen, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's seismic network manager.  Photo courtesy of HVO

`AINA KOA PONO hopes to wrap up its financing for its biofuels refinery and biofuels farm in Ka`u by June or July and start preliminary work on looking for employees sometime this fall. Engineer Sandy Causey said this morning that traffic studies will be done for Pahala and the surrounding area. He said he expects about 40 trucks a day to drive down Meyer Camp Road through the Hester Farm to the refinery. The refinery would be located about four-tenths of a mile off Wood Valley Road on Meyer Camp Road.

Sandy Causey

He said that in addition to the 40 trucks a day coming into the mill there would be about eight trucks a day of biofuel leaving town, headed up Hwy 11 to the Kona power plant. In addition, one truck a week of imported catalyst used in making the biofuel would be delivered each week. There could be additional trucks bringing Christmas berry and other invasive trees and shrubs from various ranches and open land around Ka`u. Causey said the plan is to keep the trucks out of Pahala as much as possible. Causey also said that `Aina Koa Pono wants to help with such community project as police and hospital needs. 

THE STATE SENATE and House of Representatives conference hearings and committee meetings begin today at the state capitol to finalize new laws and the state budget before they go to the full House and Senate for a final vote before the 2011 Legislature adjourns on May 5. Some of the major bills supported by Sen. Gil Kahele include bringing prisoners back from Hawai`i and supporting CIP projects for Ka`u. Rep. Bob Herkes has been working on getting a foreclosure holiday to help families keep their homes and mortgages and efforts to preserve the South Kona coast, which is also supported by Kahele.

THE NEW SEISMIC NETWORK MANAGER for the U.S. Geological Service’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is Wes Thelen. He has a bachelor’s degree in geology and geophysics and a doctorate, specializing in seismology. Thelen has studied Mount St. Helens and the Bezymianny Volcano in Russia. He completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship with the Cascades Volcano Observatory.

A COMMUNITY MEETING about tsunami damage assistance will be held this evening at 6 p.m. at Yano Hall in Captain Cook. Council members Brittany Smart and Brenda Ford are co-hosting the meeting to provide information on the possibilities for financial or other assistance for damage or destruction created by the tsunami event in March. 

COUNCIL MEMBER BRITTANY SMART is introducing a resolution to delay general plan amendments and rezoning applications in Ka`u. She wants the Ka`u Community Development Plan to be adopted before any changes are made. Nelson Ho, Smart’s legislative assistant, said the resolution is patterned after similar ones in Kona and South Kohala. Resolution 60-11 is on the Planning Committee’s agenda for tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19. The public is invited to testify at the meeting that begins at 9 a.m. at the West Hawai`i Civic Center in Kona.


GAS PRICES MAY BE HEADED for all-time highs in Ka`u. The lowest price remains in Ocean View at Kahuku Country Market at $4.48 a gallon; Ocean View Market was at $4.54; Kahala Gas in Ocean View refused to give out its gas price over the phone; the 76 station in Na`alehu was charging $4.61, and Ka`u Gas in Pahala was charging $4.61 a gallon for regular.

Filmmaker Edgy Lee

AFTER DARK IN THE PARK presents filmmaker Edgy Lee’s award-winning documentary film The Hawaiians – Reflecting Spirit tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. Lee says her film “offers important cultural insights into who the Hawaiians are as a people, their origins, historical challenges and current social conditions.”